Mar-a-Lago search turned up some privileged Trump documents that FBI set aside: Dept. of Justice

Federal prosecutors told a judge on Monday they have already completed an initial review of a trove of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida resort and found a few that could include privileged discussions with his personal lawyers.

The filing suggested that Trump’s team waited too long to demand that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon appoint an independent special master to go over the boxes of top secret documents and other materials that FBI agents found while executing a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.

A so-called FBI “filter team” has already identified “a limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information,” according to a court filing.

Trump’s legal team inexplicably waited two weeks after the bombshell Aug. 8 search, which was approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, to ask a higher court judge to appoint the special master.

Cannon said in a weekend order that she is inclined to grant the Trump legal team’s request for a special master who would oversee the review of documents found at the sprawling beach resort under slipshod security.

She gave the department an opportunity to respond and scheduled a Thursday hearing to discuss the matter further.

Setting aside materials that could be covered by attorney-client privilege is a fairly routine feature of prosecutions involving searches.

But Trump also wants the judge to bar prosecutors from seeing documents he thinks could be covered by executive privilege, a claim that most legal experts say is spurious.

The judge also directed the Justice Department to submit under seal a more detailed description of the materials that were seized from Trump’s seaside club in Palm Beach.

Meanwhile, John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Agency, said the White House is not involved in a review of the possible national security implications of the top secret documents Trump withheld from the government.

With News Wire Services